Call of Duty
by its-amagicalplace
Summary: In a battle against HYDRA to save Skye, May ends up going head to head with Ward in a fight to the death…but who will make it out alive? Spoilers: Everything up to finale (1x22) Triggers: Fighting, blood, injury, explicit language...
1. Chapter 1

**Part 1**

She should never have taken this job, May knew that now. Right from the first time Fury had told her about Coulson and how he was forming a new team and how he'd be asking her to join up, she should have said no. After Bahrain, despite the front she put on for the team, she constantly felt like there was a small part of her holding her back. A part that told her she couldn't keep killing. That she didn't want to kill again. Death always haunted agents – it just made them human. To pull the trigger of a gun, push someone off a building, to cut through their flesh with a knife - to end the life of another always took an emotional toll. Even if it were the life of an enemy, and it was a life taken in order to save a fellow agent or team member, the guilt always remained, festering away in the back of the mind, like a time-bomb waiting to go off.

She knew exactly how it felt.

She felt it every day.

But to take the life of a person she had once worked alongside, someone she had trusted, someone she had called a friend…that was different. She didn't know if she would be able to do it...

May looked around at her surroundings. She was hiding behind an interior wall of an abandoned warehouse. Well, technically, it was a HYDRA facility underneath an abandoned warehouse. They were in the middle of nowhere, and the rest of the team were spread out in various locations around the building. She hadn't liked the plan from the start – it left them exposed – but there were few other options. S.H.I.E.L.D had fallen, there was no back-up. They had to do this themselves. A few HYDRA agents had already been taken down by herself, and Coulson + Tripplett were searching the other side of the building, but Ward was unaccounted for; he was most likely guarding Skye personally.

Skye. Oh God, if anything had happened to her, May wouldn't forgive herself. Only last week she had walked away from the team, out of the secure base in the mountains and into the wilderness, in order to find Hill. She had gone because Coulson asked her to. He didn't trust her, and so she had no reason to stay. She hadn't realised however she was leaving Skye unprotected with a member of HYDRA. If she had stayed then, she surely would have realised – she wouldn't have let him kill Eric and take Skye that easily. She could have taken Ward out, and none of this would have happened.

He had fooled them all, her included.

Coulson had got Skye back at first, but then during the debacle of Ward ejecting FitzSimmons in a pod into the ocean, having to find them, and the team then trying to fight off Cybertek's new robotic creations, somehow HYDRA had managed to take her again. During the fighting, Garrett had showed up, much stronger than before, like he had upgraded himself with project Deathlok, and him and Ward had kidnaped Skye.

Ward. She let out an involuntary shudder. When Hill had told her of his involvement with HYDRA, she had felt sick, and in desperate need of a shower. How could she not have realised what he was? She had been sleeping with him for weeks for Christ's sake! But, as Coulson said, they'd had a wolf in the flock the whole time. Ward had manipulated them from the very first day, gaining their trust across several months, and now he had used that to get Skye.

Why HYDRA wanted her so badly, May didn't know entirely, but she had a horrible feeling it revolved around the fact that a) she had the alien cure running through her veins, and b) she was an 0-8-4. An unknown entity.

A sound from the next room jolted May from her thoughts. It was a man, talking to somebody else in the room.

It was Ward.

She carefully peered her head around the doorframe, and in a flash of shock and horror, took in the room before her.

It was an operating theatre, and Skye was lying on the table.

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**_[This will be continued guys! I'm hoping to have it around 4 chapters long. Please let me know what you think!]_**


	2. Chapter 2

_[Thank you so much for all the positive reviews everybody! This chapter is from Skye's perspective. Hope you enjoy!]_

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**Part 2**

The first thing Skye realised when she started to regain consciousness, was that she couldn't move. Not as though she were paralysed, but as though she was tied down to something. She peeled her eyes open, and in dismay saw that she was right.

She was in what looked like a hospital room. Actually, worse – an operating theatre. She was tied down to a cold metal table by belts on her wrists, ankles, waist and chest. She gave a small wiggle but quickly realised she was fastened tight - there was no way she was getting free easily. She glanced around the room and took in her surroundings. It was a small-ish room, with high reaching walls made of a grey stone. It was cold. It was also clearly not a proper hospital. In fact it looked like a make-shift room that had been set up specifically. There were no windows, and the doorway was just a simple arch, through which she could see only shadows. From first impressions, she got the feeling she was underground. In the corner of the room there was some kind of fridge, filled with rows of glass vials, containing glowing substances of various colours. There were a few computer monitors around the walls, but none were switched on. There were no wires or connections to her body, so HYDRA weren't monitoring her heart-rate or anything, something she was extremely glad about, because if they were they would be registering off the scale as her panic began to rise.

_Breathe_ she told herself. She had to calm down. Think about this rationally. What would May do in this situation? She'd been kidnapped before, and she always managed to get out. Surely Skye could do the same?

Except, this wasn't an ordinary mission. She hadn't been taken by some bad-guy with a grudge, or some ego-wounded soldier trying to play both sides.

This was HYDRA.

This was Ward.

The betrayal hit her in the stomach like a sucker punch, and she fought hard to keep the tears from pooling in her eyes. Everything they had ever been through together, everything he'd promised her, about keeping her safe, and how he cared for her. All of it had been a lie. She was such an idiot. She'd even began to feel for the first time in forever that she belonged, and she had found a family and a guy she could love. But yet again, she had been betrayed. He was HYDRA, and he had manipulated her to gain her trust. He'd lied to the whole team.

She'd hoped at first that he could have been double-bluffing them, possibly playing HYDRA against S.H.I.E.L.D, or working so deeply undercover that nobody really knew who he was. Or that maybe working alongside them in the BUS for so long would have forced him to re-evaluate what he was doing, and choose to protect them instead. Anything would have been better than the truth. But she was wrong. He was HYDRA through and through. Part of the organisation that had taken S.H.I.E.L.D down.

And he was standing across the room, silently watching her.

The sudden loathing she felt wash over her almost surprised her – it had only been a few weeks since she had looked at him and felt butterflies through her stomach at his touch, and her lips tingle from his kiss. But now he was here as the enemy, all trace of emotion cleared from his face, and she knew that unless she could talk some sense into him, she was going to die.


	3. Chapter 3

_I had hoped to have this finished by the time the final is broadcast on Tuesday, but I'm not sure it will be now...oops! Let me know what you think anyway though!_

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**Part 3**

May stood just outside of the room, and leant back against the cold stone of the wall, her mind racing. From what she had gathered in the brief flit her eyes had taken around the chamber, before she withdrew her head from sight, Ward was in there. Skye was in there as well, but she was tied to a metal bench, which, by all accounts looked like an operating table. The room had been an average size, with a couple of computers (turned off), a medical storage fridge, and a few other benches. Besides that, she hadn't seen anything of use.

She strained her ears, and tried to listen to what Ward was saying.

"Oh but you see Skye, you are more important than you realise. You see, with your blood, HYDRA can create a drug that will heal any injury, any wound. We can save lives. You have the power of life within your veins." Ward almost sounded like he was pleading with her. "Skye this is the future. HYDRA is the future. You have to see this?"

_He's completely brainwashed_, May thought to herself. Delusional too, if he thought that Skye, or any non-HYDRA member for that matter, was going to agree with what he was saying. She listened closer.

"Ward, you're a psychopath." Skye was whispering. "You cannot seriously think that HYDRA is good. They are a Nazi organisation!"

"I am not a Nazi!" Ward was getting angry.

"Yes, you are!" Skye suddenly shouted. "What you are doing, what Garrett is doing, it isn't good Ward! Do you really think that this is right? That this is the future? Are you serious?!"

May had to think. She could leave right now, and go and find Coulson and the rest of the team, and they could do this together. Or, she could go in there herself and try and talk him out of doing whatever he was planning to do to Skye.

Ward continued.

"Skye, you don't understand"

"Understand?! S.H.I.E.L.D, they are the good guys Ward, they fight against people like you. They save lives!"

"Damn it Skye!" Ward was getting angrier now. "S.H.I.E.L.D have done nothing for you, except endanger your life! HYDRA, they want to help, they want you to see your full potential!"

A sound at the end of the corridor made May spin the other way, and stop listening to their conversation. It had sounded like footsteps. She peered into the shadows, but saw nobody. Heart pounding, she crept slowly away from the archway towards the noise. There was a corner at the end of the corridor, and as she moved closer, she reached for the gun on her belt. She could see nothing. She could hear nothing either.

In fact, the whole place was suddenly quiet…too quiet.

She hadn't noticed the silence that had encapsulated the entire corridor when she'd moved.

The next thing she heard was the metallic click of a gun being loaded next to her head, and she closed her eyes, mentally kicking herself for not hearing him approach, for not getting out when she had the chance.

"Agent May."

She shivered slightly, as a dark whisper floated across the back of her neck.

"Make one movement, and you die."

Ward slowly moved around her, until he was directly in front of her. He smiled, and pressed the barrel of the weapon against her forehead.

"So good of you to join us, I was hoping you'd come."


	4. Chapter 4

_Your reviews are what's keeping me writing guys, thank you so much! Anyway, I was feeling productive, so wrote and uploaded two chapters in one day! _

_Okay so this chapter is longer than the others, and it came out slightly more jumbled than I had anticipated, but never mind, I wanted to get it posted._

_TW: this chapter briefly discusses the possibility of emotional/psychological abuse._

_Non of these characters belong to me, they belong to Marvel, I make no money from this etc._

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**Part 4**

Skye was lying on the table, desperately craning her head towards the archway to see where Ward had gone. He'd heard something in the corridor outside and had stopped talking in the middle of a sentence, before grabbing the gun on his belt, pointing it at her whilst he gagged her with one hand, and then walking out. He'd moved silently, like a cat stalking its prey. She had no idea how he did it. This Ward, the agent of HYDRA, he was a completely different person to the one she thought she knew.

She heard him murmuring something outside the room – there was somebody else there. Her heart began to pound. If it were another HYDRA agent, she had no idea what she would do. Facing Ward, and trying to convince him to let her go was bad enough, but if another agent showed up then she literally had zero chance of getting out.

She was dragged from her train of thought by the sight of May walking into the chamber, followed by Ward holding his handgun to her head. Despite the predicament, her heart leapt slightly at the sight of her. May looked at her without words, but Skye could see the apology – and frustration – in her eyes. She must have been outside the room, which was why Ward had stopped talking and left so suddenly. If May was there, then the rest of their S.H.I.E.L.D team must have been in the building too...

Ward reached around May and with his left hand, took the gun from her belt, throwing it onto the bench behind him, before backing away slightly, the aim of his weapon still not leaving her face.

"The Cavalry joins us."

"Let her go Ward." May said quietly.

He smirked.

"Oh, I don't think so." He muttered softly. "You see, Skye here, she is the key to the future of HYDRA."

"Yeah, I heard all your bullshit talk before."

He swung his left hand towards her face unexpectedly, and she tried to react in time, but not before she felt a burning pain across her right cheek. Her first instinct was to fight back, but he still had the gun pointed at her with his right hand, so she didn't. _Not yet._ Instead, she raised her hand and touched the spot gingerly – it was wet with blood. Ward stood back and smiled at her – a smile filled with loathing and intent. She glanced down and saw a glint in his left hand, quickly realising what had sliced her face – he had a knife.

She wondered briefly where it had appeared from.

"See, Agent May, there are a lot of things I've learnt whilst infiltrating S.H.I.E.L.D. One of them however, was something you taught me. Something about keeping weapons hidden in case you need them later, correctly utilising them, and, my favourite lesson of all, how to wield a knife."

He smiled dangerously.

The irony. She was the one who would normally choose a sword or a knife to fight with, whereas Ward often favoured his fists. She'd spent time on the BUS showing him how to successfully wield a knife as a weapon properly_. Shit._

"You like this?" he smirked at her. "Thought I'd take some hints from the great Melinda May, you know, especially after all the time we spent training together, I thought you'd like to see how much I actually remembered, how much of a brilliant teacher you have been to me."

Ward slowly began to circle the room.

May glared at him, and could feel the rage boiling up inside her, but she tried to keep her expression neutral. She'd inadvertently shown him everything he needed to know.

"I'd say flattered really Grant." She shifted slowly around the edge of the room in time with him, ensuring they remained completely opposite each other, but also consciously aware he had left her weapon on the bench behind him completely exposed.

"Flattered?" he whispered, but she could see momentary confusion flash across his face. "Please, Melinda, explain to me why you think your death will be, as you put it, flattering_._"

"Oh no, not my death as such, because I won't be dying today." She glanced up at him, before continuing. "But, obviously imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. You clearly feel incapable of taking me down yourself, with your own special skills, so have to resort to my own methods instead."

He growled at her.

"I could take you down May, without any help" he said softly. "You have no idea what I am capable of, what I've been trained to do, what I've kept hidden from everyone on the BUS for months"

"I'm sure I can imagine." May murmured, her mind flashing back to her own extreme training in combat before she joined S.H.I.E.L.D.

"I don't think so."

"HYDRA's secret weapon. A man so adept at changing his identity that he can work within S.H.I.E.L.D for fifteen years, with nobody suspecting a thing. See, it's obvious now." May continued softly, her eyes not leaving his face. She hadn't looked at Skye since she had first entered, but she knew the girl was both watching and listening intently. "HYDRA must have spent years training you up to be the best little soldier they could, manipulating you, punishing you, rewarding you, until you were so dependent on them you would do whatever they asked."

"You don't know what you're talking about May" he muttered quietly.

She carried on as though she hadn't heard him.

"You know what that is Ward? That's abuse that is. Psychological abuse."

"I made all my own choices. You have no idea what you are talking about."

"No, you didn't. I know Garrett recruited you when you were just a teenager, only seventeen years old, and he manipulated you into becoming his own personal soldier."

Ward stopped moving around the room. He carefully put the safety back onto his gun, placed it back into the holder on his belt, and dropped the knife onto the bench next to him, the metal of the blade clanging as it bounced across the surface.

"You really want to see what I'm capable of, Cavalry? Let me show you."

He took a step towards her.

Trapped on a table in the middle, Skye whimpered slightly through the gag. Her eyes flitted between them both with terror. On one side, was Ward, a man she had once trusted, believed in, and even desired. She'd seen him fight, but she had never seen him look so…dangerous; he had a look in his eyes of madness that made her shiver. And he was HYDRA. He'd been undercover for years, and he'd murdered multiple agents, multiple colleagues, without a second thought. She swallowed tightly.

And then on her other side, May. In all honesty, despite how much she liked and respected her, Skye had to admit that sometimes May terrified her. She had one hell of a reputation, as an agent to be feared, an agent that nobody should ever, ever cross. Skye had often thought to herself that somebody would have to be suicidal to take May on – so either Ward was just asking to die, or he had been holding some kind of skill back. She had seen May fight before, but never to the extent for which she was renowned – May had never let any of them see that.

Skye had a horrible feeling that that was about to change.

It was hard not to see the resemblance the two of them had to a pair of big cats, prowling around each other in a mirrored dance of perfect harmony, matching each other step-for-step. It was the dance animals did before going in for the kill.

She knew what was about to happen, and she closed her eyes.


	5. Chapter 5

___**Trigger Warning: This chapter contains violence, fighting, blood etc.**_

_I'm not very good at writing action, so I really hope this is okay!_

_(Also, spoiler alert for the finale: I know this is similair to that scene in the episode, but I was writing it already, before it even promo'd, and I decided just to carry on anyway...)_

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**Part 5**

Ward made the first strike, swinging his fist towards May. She ducked easily, having anticipated the move, and threw her own fists out. He too, easily dodged, and laughed slightly.

They matched each other stride for stride. They were too similar, they both had training in hand-to-hand combat, and they knew each other's repertoire well. May knew that if she was going to take him down, she would need to do something different. Her mind ran circles as she moved around the room.

Skye watched through peeking eyes. She had never been so afraid, and that included the time she was shot. That had almost been peaceful in comparison to this. This? This was a war. A war where the main weapons being used were the two people in front of her. She watched as May landed another blow against Ward's head, only to have him fight back equally strong and punch her hard in the chest.

May fell backwards, and the back of her head slammed against the wall, and she saw stars swirl in front of her vision. The metallic taste of blood washed around her mouth. She shook her head from side to side to clear the flashing lights in her eyes, and regained her vision in time to duck, and avoid getting another punch to the face.

She rolled across the floor and kicked Ward's legs from under him, getting back to her feet as he hit the floor. She threw herself onto him and tried to pin him down, but he had the edge on physical strength, and he used it. He rolled her over and his hand went around her neck. She felt her throat constrict as he squeezed tighter and tighter. She looked up into his eyes, and they gleamed back at her wildly.

She used every ounce of strength in her body to bring her knee up from under her, and she forced it hard into his groin. He released her throat as he winced and growled, and she took the opportunity to get back the upper edge. Her foot collided with his chest, and he staggered backwards, as he let out a deep whoosh of breath, giving her enough time to collect her thoughts.

She reached over and grabbed the edge of the tape covering Skye's mouth, before ripping it off. She knew it would hurt, but it meant she could call for help.

Ward grabbed her from behind and threw her across the room. As she crashed into the edge of one of the spare tables, she felt one of her ribs crack, and suddenly found pain when she tried to breathe deeply.

As she stood, she saw him turn to Skye, so she ran and launched herself at him, and then jumped, wrapping her legs around his neck and dragging him to the floor, before showering him with as many punches as her fists would allow.

He kicked his legs upwards and threw her off, and as she fell backwards, she noticed that her gun was still lying on the bench where Ward had left it.

They were doing this the old-fashioned way, like they had trained. But times, well, times changed.

"MAY!" screamed Skye suddenly.

May glanced quickly at Skye, and saw the terror in the girl's face, then back to Ward, just in time to see him with an arm stretched out across the floor, closing his fist around his own gun, and raising it towards her.

She couldn't quite move away in time. She managed to dodge the first bullet, but the second struck her in the lower part of her left leg as she'd leapt across a table to get away from him. She felt the impact, and her leg buckled beneath her slightly as she landed, and she let out a yelp of pain. She remained upright however.

Ward was back on his feet, and he smiled lazily at her as he slowly approached, gun firmly aimed now at her head.

"Oh Melinda. I have to say, I'm –"

A shot from outside the corridor threw him slightly, and he turned his attention momentarily towards the arched entrance.

May took her moment.

She always said she wouldn't use a gun unless she needed to. Right now, she needed to.

He was going to kill her.

She had to do it.

In one fluid movement, ignoring the throbbing pain in her leg, she grabbed her own weapon from the bench beside her, turned to face him, and fired.

The first shot rang off, and suddenly the whole scene ran in slow motion. Ward staggered backwards away from her with a grunt, clutching his stomach with one hand. He looked down, and saw the bright red of his own blood. The colour drained from his face. He raised his gun once more at May, but before she gave him another chance to pull the trigger, she rang off a second shot, closely followed by a third.

He dropped his weapon, and fell to the floor.

He didn't finish his sentence.


	6. Chapter 6

**_Trigger Warning: One use of strong language, and mentions of blood, injury and violence._**

_Guys you are all amazing. Your reviews keep me writing! Hope you like this latest installment._

_As usual (although I keep forgetting to put it) I don't own Marvel or any of these characters etc._

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**Part 6**

Blood was pooling across the ground towards her, and she felt a wave of nausea hit. The room began to spin, and May knew she was going to end up on the floor if she didn't sit down fast. She slid down the wall she was leaning against just as her legs crumpled beneath her. She could feel the coolness of the stone through her shirt, and found it strangely soothing. There was the sound of more gunshots from outside the corridor, but they seemed far away. She felt distant, like there was radio static in her head.

What had she done? How the fuck had any of this happened?! How?! She had sent a bullet – no, three bullets – through someone she once called a friend. She had killed him. She felt anger, betrayal, guilt and devastation, all colliding together within herself like a hurricane, and had to force herself to look away from Ward's body. He was HYDRA. She had to keep reminding herself that. _He was going to kill you if you didn't stop him._

The room continued to spin despite her being on the floor, and she felt herself starting to tremble. _Delayed shock_, she realised; it was more than likely what was happening now. She brought her knees up in front of her, ignoring the shooting pain up her left calf, and held her gun tightly in her hands on her lap. If another HYDRA agent entered, she would need to take them out too, regardless of her condition.

She could feel a sticky warmth on her face, and realised her cheek was still bleeding from where Ward had sliced it. She wondered briefly what kind of state she was in following the fight, but that thought left her mind just as quickly. What did it matter? She had just killed Grant Ward. _To save yourself_ she told herself over and over again. _To save yourself, and to save Skye._

Skye.

May looked up to see the hacker watching her with fear in her eyes, her lips moving as though she was saying something. She was crying too. May forced herself to focus on what was going on in the room and around her. Slowly she began to hear what Skye was saying.

"May! Please talk to me, please can you hear me May?!"

She nodded slowly, and Skye choked in relief.

May dragged herself to her feet and staggered over to where Skye still lay fastened to the bench. She had seen everything that had just happened, and there were tears streaming down her face. May gently reached out, and with trembling fingers, stroked them away, before slicing through the restraints holding her down with Ward's knife.

Out in the corridor she could vaguely hear what sounded like fighting – a lot of scuffling and shouting, and then silence. Suddenly a voice she knew all too well called out to them, and she was filled with overwhelming relief.

"May?! Skye?! Are you down here?!"

It was Coulson.

"We're…in…here" Skye replied in a strangled voice as she sat up.

There was brief conversation outside – it sounded like it was between Coulson and Tripp – and then he called back to them.

"Thank God, are you both okay? Are you hurt? We've taken a lot of men down, but we think there's still some in the building. Where's Ward?"

Skye gave a choked sob and looked at May, who thought from the look in Skye's eyes that she was going to hit her. She had, after all, just killed the man she guessed that Skye was in love with. But instead, Skye threw her arms around May and dragged her into a tight hug.

"Oh God May, you're alive, you're alive" she sobbed against May's shoulder.

May didn't know what to say, so she simply nodded, and murmured what she hoped were comforting words.

"I'm sorry, you shouldn't have had to see…I'm sorry" she muttered, reaching around her and hugging her back for a moment. She then pulled backwards and looked her in the face, before calling out to the others.

"Ward is…Ward is down." She took a deep steadying breath before continuing. "One moment, we're coming now."

The room was still spinning slightly, and she was becoming more and more light-headed. Her leg was beginning to throb quite badly too; she could feel the wetness of blood on her trousers, and wondered how much she had actually lost. _Quite a lot_ she thought to herself grimly.

"We need to get out of here" she murmured more to herself than Skye, but Skye nodded anyway, and shakily climbed off the table. May went to move towards the door, but the room span again and she stumbled, pain slicing up through her leg. Skye grabbed her arm to hold her upright, and visibly refraining from looking down at Ward's body, the two of them exited the chamber, to find the rest of the team.


	7. Chapter 7

_This chapter didn't turn out quite as I had actually planned, but when I sat down to write I just couldn't stop. So voila, have a chapter mostly from Coulson's thoughts. _

_Hope it is okay!_

_I don't own Marvel or AOS or any of the characters etc._

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**Part 8**

The team were all back on the BUS together. They had left the HYDRA facility without any other soldiers turning up, but also without taking down Garrett. They'd been unable to find him amid the chaos, which they were all uneasy about, but they had needed to get Skye to safety, and May to medical attention fast. As soon as they had gotten on board, Tripp had taken command of the plane and flown them away from the location. They were currently cruising at around 35,000ft, and Tripp had switched the controls to autopilot.

Skye, Coulson and Tripp were all sat in the lounge area. Skye was finally telling the other two about what had happened in the chamber, between May and Ward. She explained about how Ward had been rambling about her "changing the world" and that S.H.I.E.L.D had "only ever endangered her life", when he had left suddenly, only to return with May at gunpoint. She told them how May had talked to him, tried to get through to him about HYDRA and how Garrett had manipulated him so much; how she had somehow convinced him to put down his guns and knife, and to fight her by hand (which, in all honesty had probably saved them both from being killed immediately). Then she went on to explain in her own words how the two had fought, choking back tears as she spoke.

Tripp sat next to Skye on the sofa, and gently stroked her back in comfort. He mostly listened, asking her the occasional question.

"I've…I've never seen anything like it" she murmured. "That level of combat – they were both like…machines." She shivered slightly, and let out a choked sob. "But when Ward grabbed the gun off the floor…God I thought for sure he was going to kill her."

Coulson, who was sat opposite the two of them, closed his eyes in pain at those last words. He didn't want to think of what could have happened, of how the outcome could easily have been the other way round had Ward not taken May's bait, and put down his gun before they fought. He could have shot her there and then, but she had managed, as usual, to alter the situation to something else, something she could deal with; she had taken control of what was happening. She knew she could fight, that was for sure. But so could Ward. May must have known the risk it was taking him on head-to-head, but she'd done it anyway, to protect Skye from HYDRA.

She had been so close to being killed.

Thoughts were swirling around Coulson's head.

He didn't know what he would have done, if, when he and Tripp had arrived at the chamber, instead of Ward being on the ground, it had been May. If they had entered and seen her broken body lying on the floor, with blood pooling around her, her eyes glassy and staring, dead.

He shook his head to clear the images haunting his mind.

It had been bad enough seeing how May and Skye had walked out of the chamber into the corridor to meet them. He knew immediately May was injured. Upon first sight, her face had been covered in blood, the majority of which was from a gash on her right cheek, and she had bruising appearing along her jawline. There had been a lump across her forehead, as though she'd taken one hell of a whack to it, and she'd had cuts and slices across her arms. She'd limped towards them too, and he could see a lot of blood sticking her trousers to her leg. But if that had been all, he wouldn't have worried as much. He'd seen her after combat many times, and he knew she was covered in scars from various battle injuries. No, what made his blood go cold, was how pale her face was through the blood. How clammy her skin felt as he had taken her arm to help steady her when she'd swayed in front of them. How Skye had kept throwing anxious glances at her, and asking her if she was okay. How May hadn't really said a word to anyone. How her eyes had almost looked right through them all. She'd staggered part way to the BUS, and then Tripp had carried her the rest of the way. She hadn't resisted, and he knew for a fact she hated being picked up.

Fitzsimmons had met them at the cargo hold, and quickly took May to the medical bay to help with her wounds. Both he and Skye had stayed to help as they had worked to stabilise her; providing her with fluids, removing the bullet from her leg, and giving her an emergency transfusion of blood to replace what she had lost. He'd held her hand as she faded in and out of consciousness, murmured softly to her that she would be okay, that she had to stay awake, that it was all over.

Once her stats had risen back to what Simmons had termed "an acceptable level given the circumstances", Fitz had thanked them both for their help, but requested they leave them to it, so that they could focus on helping her recover more.

That had been almost three hours ago.

He needed to see her, to know how she was. He needed to make sure she was still with him.

Suddenly Fitz came around the corner and entered the room. Skye stopped talking, and the three of them stood to look at him, waiting with baited breath for whatever news he had come to tell them of.

Fitz looked at them all, and started to speak.


	8. Chapter 8

_I'm really sorry I haven't updated in a while, and I'm also sorry that this chapter is so short compared to the previous ones. I've got my final 2nd year university exams soon so I'm on revision mode; haven't had much time to write.  
_

_As usual, I don't own AOS or Marvel or any of the characters._

_[Thank you so much for the reviews, follows and favourites. Over 6500 views on this story is insane!]_

* * *

**Part 8**

"She's okay" Fitz said.

The relief that flooded the room could almost be physically felt. Trip smiled, Skye choked back a relieved sob, and Coulson closed his eyes, silently thanking the Gods that Melinda had survived. He didn't know what he would have done if she hadn't made it.

"The transfusion worked" Fitz continued. "Her vitals are all good. Simmons has stitched up her wounds, and put her on strong pain relief for the gunshot to her leg, but it was a clean shot, so should heal quite quickly."

He glanced around at the three of them, and then looked at Coulson.

"She's got a pretty serious concussion but she's…well she's awake" he said with a slight grin at the last word.

Coulson tilted his head to question Fitz's smirk.

"She's…well the strength of the pain relief has sent her a little…delirious, Sir" he continued. "And she's not the best patient really." He smiled again. "She keeps trying to drag herself out of the medical bay."

Phil gave a small chuckle. Melinda had always been a bad patient. She hated being poked and prodded with needles, and usually wanted nothing more than to get back to her training, or to be doing something useful. Time to heal was considered overrated in her eyes.

He had seen her once before when she'd been high on morphine too. She had giggled like a schoolgirl and tried to get him to dance with her. The memory flooded him with happiness.

"Can we see her?" he asked Fitz.

"Ummm…actually Sir, she wanted to speak to Skye" Fitz replied, glancing over to the hacker, the smile leaving his face.

Skye blinked, but then nodded.

"I think she wants to see if you are okay…I think she feels guilty about…well about what happened."

Fitz swallowed and looked down. They all knew now that May had killed Ward, and it was going to take a long time for that to sink in. She had saved Skye's life in the process though, and overall they knew that was far more important. Everything had changed, but they were ready to deal with the consequences.

"She's worried about _me_?!" Skye said in outrage, striding across the room. "She saved my life! I won't let her feel guilty about that!"

And with that, she headed towards the medical bay.


	9. Chapter 9

_Sorry for the delay in updating. I've been doing my university exams._

_As usual, I don't own Marvel or Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D_

* * *

**Part 9**

May peeled her eyes open and squinted into the brightness of the room. Her head felt fuzzy, like it was filled with static, and she couldn't hear properly, as though she had cotton wool in her ears. Glancing around, she realised she recognised the room. Where was she? Why couldn't she think? Her mind wasn't working quickly enough, and that made her panic. _Breathe, and focus,_ she thought to herself. What had happened, what was wrong with her head, where was she, and why was she lying down?

Slowly she looked around the room. Flashes were coming back to her gradually. She was in the med bay. On the BUS. Simmons was across the room from her. Fitz had been here hadn't he? Where had he gone? Something about getting Skye? Skye.

"Skye!"

May threw herself upwards into a sitting position and tried to get off the bed she was on.

"No, no, not again, May stay there" Simmons cried, rushing across the room to her and gently holding her shoulders to prevent her from getting up.

"Skye, is she okay? I need her…need to talk to her" May said shakily. Everything had returned in a sickening flash. HYDRA. Ward. Skye. Blood.

"She's fine" Simmons replied soothingly. "Fitz has gone to find her. You asked him to get her before you drifted back out of consciousness. They'll be here in a minute." She looked at May carefully. "How are you feeling now?"

May sat and thought. How did she feel? She'd just murdered somebody she had thought of as a friend, an ally. She'd done it in front of the girl who considered this team her family, who needed them more than anything. She'd spent so long trying to protect the team from danger, but Skye had still almost been killed. She remembered walking from the chamber. How had she got onto the plane? She glanced down at her leg – bandaged. Her head still felt fuzzy. Probably morphine, or some other painkiller, she realised. Needles in her arm…blood? Had she lost that much?

All in all, how did she feel?

"Spectacular" she murmured sarcastically.

Simmons smiled sadly. "May, do you remember when you woke up before?"

May looked at her. Before? She shook her head slowly.

"Okay, you've woken up a couple of times in the past hour. Every time you've regained consciousness you've tried to either rip the wires from your arm, or physically leave the room." She smiled again, but this time there was a trace of amusement in her eyes. "You told Fitz that if he got Skye right now you would buy him a monkey…I, er, I assume that wasn't true?"

May looked at her. A monkey? Really? She rubbed her eyes, and knew what it was that was making her feel so woozy.

"You've given me morphine haven't you?"

"Yes" Simmons paused. "We, well we didn't realise it would have such an effect on you…Coulson said it might make you a bit delirious, but, well, yeah" she looked awkwardly away, and May wondered what it was she'd done to make her feel awkward. She knew full well what had happened last time she'd taken morphine. It made her spill her secrets.

"Jemma" she said carefully. "What have I said since you gave me it?"

"You, well –" she paused, and glanced back to May. "Besides begging us to get Skye, you kept asking for me to protect Coulson, you asked me to make sure he stayed on the BUS, because you didn't want to lose him again. You told me I had to keep him safe for you, because you couldn't live without him."

May groaned inwardly.

"Did he hear me say that?" she murmured, not meeting Jemma's eyes.

Simmons paused for a second, and then nodded gently.

"I think he might have done" she said softly.

"I hate morphine" May mumbled.


	10. Chapter 10

_Final chapter here. Have some May x Skye bonding. I love their relationship in canon, and I reckon season 2 needs a lot more of it._

_As usual, I don't own Marvel of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D._

* * *

**Part 10**

Skye came around the corner at that moment, and swung through the doors into the room.

"Skye!" Jemma cried, turning away from May quickly and rolling her eyes. "Could you be any louder?"

Skye ignored her, and was looking at May. May observed her warily. She knew what Skye had seen. She needed to make sure she was okay.

"Jemma" May said quietly. "Could you give us a few moments?"

"As long as you don't try and escape again" she said pointedly at May.

"I'll try to resist."

Simmons looked at them both and smiled slightly, before nodding and leaving without another word.

Skye moved slowly across the room and sat on a bench in front of May. She trailed her eyes anxiously across May's face, taking in the bruising across her cheekbone and jawline, before reaching out for her hand. She stopped at the last minute however, and pulled her own back again, as though nervous about what May would do.

May watched her with sad eyes and swallowed. Was Skye afraid of her? She wouldn't blame her if she was, after what had happened…

"Fitz said you wanted to see me" Skye said.

May nodded.

"I…I wanted to see if you were okay?" she sighed, looking down at her hands. "After what you saw…I…you shouldn't have had to see that."

"I'm fine, it's yourself you should be worried about!"

"These are superficial." She looked back up at the girl. "Skye, what I did, what you saw, that…that can stay with a person for a long time…I wish you hadn't seen that…"

"May" Skye said firmly, fixing her with a determined look. "Ward was HYDRA. He was a liar, a traitor, and he betrayed us all. He was going to kill you, and he was going to kill me. What you did was save both of our lives."

"Skye, I –"

"May, you saved my life, and for that, I will never be able to thank you enough."

Skye stood up then, reached out, and pulled May into a soft hug. Surprised at the sudden gesture, May could feel the tears building up in her eyes. She didn't cry. She wouldn't. She was the person who stayed strong. The Cavalry. The Ice Queen. She hated that reputation. But it was part of her life.

She knew what she'd done to Ward had been to protect the team, Skye, herself. She shouldn't feel so guilty. She knew the morphine she'd been injected with was probably messing with her emotions aswell, which didn't help.

This was not the reaction she had expected from the girl. She'd been prepared for anger, devastation, or even fear. Not acceptance. And certainly not forgiveness. Not this soon.

Selecting the members of this team had been a task she'd taken great care over, but she had never foreseen Skye turning up and joining them too. Adding an experienced hacker to the team had messed up the dynamic she had tried to create to protect Coulson. And so to begin with, she had been extremely apprehensive about it. But as the weeks and months went by, and Skye began to open up, to see S.H.I.E.L.D as the good guys, to see the BUS as a home, May couldn't help but find herself growing attached to the young girl. She was young, yes, often made mistakes, and she'd been on the other side to begin with, but she was smart, she brought the best out in people, and she was willing to learn. To get better. To become a part of something bigger. May knew she could be counted on.

But more than that, Skye had found a family. Fitzsimmons were like siblings to her, and May knew that Skye saw Coulson and herself as some kind of parent figures – she'd overheard her referring to them as "mum and dad" on multiple occasions.

And May, she had always wanted a daughter. The team had become like her family too. She wanted to protect them, to keep them safe, no matter the cost to herself.

They had found each other in the strangest of ways, and they had been through a hell of a lot together, but this team was stronger now. HYDRA had taken a large portion of S.H.I.E.L.D down, but they would fight it. They would grow stronger, and safer, and continue to fight for good. And they would always be there for one another.

May smiled, and pulled Skye into a tighter hug.

###

Whether Phil had heard her begging Simmons to protect him when she was delirious on morphine or not, May didn't know. He never brought anything about it up, so she assumed he hadn't.

She assumed wrong. He had heard every word. At least now, he thought to himself, he knew that they felt the same way about each other.

He couldn't live without her either.

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_Thank you so much to everybody for favouriting, following and reviewing over the past few weeks. I never expected it to have so many views, nor 10 chapters either, but it kept growing. I hope this conclusion is one everybody enjoys! Thanks!_


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